Superfund
Many Diversified Interests Superfund Site: (5th Ward) Houston, TX
At one time, Houston’s Fifth Ward contained a 36-acre fenced area, encompassing several debris piles, paved areas, and a few remnant structures. This once industrial area contained metal casting foundries that had created specialty molded steel parts that served as the foundation for industrial, railroad, and mining operations across the country. Also among the steel debris, were several used catalyst drums left by behind by a nearby chemical facility. Many Diversified Interests (MDI) was the last company to own the site, before filing for bankruptcy in 1992. Industrial operations had contaminated soils and ground water, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the MDI Superfund Site on its National Priorities List (NPL) of contaminated sites in 1999. While immediate threats to human health and the environment had been addressed, the site remained dormant for several years. Currently, the Superfund Site’s $6.6 million solution is complete, enclosing a flat open field where a new residential housing development is planned. The once ridden site will provide jobs, build the city’s tax base, and help sustain the ongoing renovation of Houston’s Fifth Ward. This case study explores the key factors that have led to a successful cleanup and planned renovation of the MDI Superfund site. This resolution at the MDI site proves how federal and state responsibilities can ensure the protection of human health and the environment with an end result reassuring a community’s quality of life. In the following pages, the remediation efforts will be discussed for the MDI site between its NPL listing in 1999 to the completed construction of the site’s solution in 2008.
Two metal casting foundries and a chemical recycling facility inhabited the Superfund Site from 1926 to the early 1990s. Operation infrastructure, warehouses, and laboratories could be found within this industrial area. Waste material
At one time, Houston’s Fifth Ward contained a 36-acre fenced area, encompassing several debris piles, paved areas, and a few remnant structures. This once industrial area contained metal casting foundries that had created specialty molded steel parts that served as the foundation for industrial, railroad, and mining operations across the country. Also among the steel debris, were several used catalyst drums left by behind by a nearby chemical facility. Many Diversified Interests (MDI) was the last company to own the site, before filing for bankruptcy in 1992. Industrial operations had contaminated soils and ground water, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the MDI Superfund Site on its National Priorities List (NPL) of contaminated sites in 1999. While immediate threats to human health and the environment had been addressed, the site remained dormant for several years. Currently, the Superfund Site’s $6.6 million solution is complete, enclosing a flat open field where a new residential housing development is planned. The once ridden site will provide jobs, build the city’s tax base, and help sustain the ongoing renovation of Houston’s Fifth Ward. This case study explores the key factors that have led to a successful cleanup and planned renovation of the MDI Superfund site. This resolution at the MDI site proves how federal and state responsibilities can ensure the protection of human health and the environment with an end result reassuring a community’s quality of life. In the following pages, the remediation efforts will be discussed for the MDI site between its NPL listing in 1999 to the completed construction of the site’s solution in 2008.
Two metal casting foundries and a chemical recycling facility inhabited the Superfund Site from 1926 to the early 1990s. Operation infrastructure, warehouses, and laboratories could be found within this industrial area. Waste material